His Wings
by FangedWriter
Summary: [working title][cowrite with The Wandering Gambler] After the events of the accident, Cloud returns to a somewhat peaceful life, but all of that is about to change with the return of someone. Yaoi in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1 And he returns

**His Wings (working title)**

**By The Wandering Gambler and FangedWriter**

**Hi everyone! Okay, first off, it's a working title. We'll come up with something more permanent by chapter two, promise. Anyway, we hope you like, and reviews will make us both very happy! This is going to be yaoi in later chapters. Okay, think everything's in order, so here we go!**

**Disclaimer: Neither of us own Final Fantasy, okay?**

A city lain in ruins. The once magnificent buildings that once seemingly touched the very heavens lay around in a pile of concrete and steel. Midgar was the new hell on earth, and despite the city's best efforts to try to bring people back, the propaganda did little to hide the scars of the past years that had plagued it. But he could care less. He was looking for someone. Someone who had wrought pain and misery upon those whom he came into contact with. He was going to find him, and end his life with utmost cruelty. He heard his voice from the ruins of the buildings, but never saw, never glimpsed the silver haired specter. Always heard that cold, unfeeling voice from behind the concrete slabs, uttering the same emotionless message over and over again.

"I will never be a mere memory."

"Leave me ALONE!"

XX

Cloud bolted up from his sleep, cold sweat clinging to his muscled body and making his blond hair sag.

"It's just a dream… only a dream." He had been having the same dream ever since the geostigma incident two months ago. "Even in death, he continues to haunt me. If he's dead." His nightmares had almost doubled after Kadaj and his gang came to Midgar, and they had all been about Sephiroth.

That cold, menacing voice always waited for him to fall to sleep. But even with the frequent bad dreams, life had become somewhat enjoyable for him. Especially after the geostigma incident, more needs for food and other necessities had arisen and he was more that happy to work, even if just to push bad memories away. Not even the steadily increasing rate of people not being able to pay bothered him. He just told them to pay when they could and went on his way.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He was on a delivery right now, actually, to the Ancient Centra City. The very thought of going there… "Ever since Kadaf, people have looked all over for the hell of it. Almost as if there was something there." It didn't matter to them that they were defiling a forgotten city or the resting place of…

"It shouldn't matter I suppose. I just don't want them there. It isn't for them to be there. They didn't feel what we felt, go what we went through. It isn't right…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The shell-like city stood over the lake as it had always, ever since Cloud had seen it those three years ago. The sun hit it in such a way that threw sparkles in all directions. "The forest has lost none of its beauty." Never had he felt such a strong feeling of home, nor a stronger sting of sadness when he saw it.

"Do you always pride yourself on taking too damn long, or is it just a special you started running?"

Cloud snapped back to reality and saw a pallid skinned man walking toward him, his face obscured by his long platinum hair and clothed in a ocean blue tunic with a gray cloak. Cloud could feel the hairs at the back of his neck starting to stand up. He didn't like this guy one bit.

"I'm sorry, sir. There was a lighting storm on the way and I got delayed."

The man came up to him and looked him in the eyes. "Yes, well, that may be the case, but I don't care. You get here on time, or you get no pay. Be thankful I'm in a hurry or otherwise you would get no pay now." He took the package that Cloud had in his hands and pushed a wad of gil into his hand. The man looked at him one last time and said, "Now, if you don't mind, please leave." And with that, he walked away.

"What's his problem?" Cloud thought to himself. "Not only that, but why here, in the Centra City no less?"

Cloud didn't leave immediately. Curiosity had gotten to him. What was this man doing in the city and what had Cloud himself just delivered? The record lists of what was being delivered was back at the headquarters.

Normally, they were held in the utmost privacy, but Cloud had always known an easy way of getting to them.

Half of his mind had wanted him to go right ahead and look, but the other half insisted that he do no such thing. That half reasoned with him that he had finally found some kind of peaceful routine and that how it would be the ultimate irony if he himself wrecked it.

Cloud was still standing there when the man came back and told him again to leave. Cloud left, wondering what was the right move to make.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

To hell with everything, I want to know what's going on. That's what Cloud said to himself as he approached the city underneath the lake and seashell view.

Everything just didn't add up. Why deliver here of all places? Any other was just as good. He had called Tifa to check on what he delivered, and after five minutes of arguing about customer privacy, she said that all she knew was that it was rush delivery and nothing more. That, too, didn't make sense in itself. Normally there was a hint of what it was, but there was nothing to even suggest what this package was. What's so important about it that this guy has to keep it a secret?

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The lights from above the lake shown through to the Centa ghost city below, bathing it in beautiful blue light. Cloud looked around and spotted his mystery man down on the pedestal in the center of everything. There was something else too, but he could hear words in the air, foreboding and heavy of something... sinister. Everything seemed to compress around him, to push inward until it crushed him. It took all he could to keep himself from falling from lightheadedness. (What is this feeling?) He thought to himself. (I can feel a tangible hate in the air, as if... No...!) The man came into view, and so did what was in front of him. A magic sphere glowed in front of him, blood red and pulsing, seemingly growing.

"What the hell are you doing, you idiot!!" Cloud shouted at the man.

But he seemed not to hear him.

"Awaken to me, great warrior of terrible power! Obey your summoner and come to my call! OBEY ME AND COME FORTH!"

The magic ball exploded, sending waves of pain into Cloud's eyes, blinding him from all in front of him. (Damn, what has he done?!) Slowly, his vision came back to him, and what he saw when he looked toward the pedestal amazed him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A platinum silver-haired man, in his mid 20's it seemed, lay in front of the summoner. His hair seemed to extend down all the way to the small of his back, and he wore a black robe trench coat type clothing. A black shoulder guard was on his left shoulder. Cloud shuddered as the realization hit him.

"No... what do you think you have done, you idiot?!?!"

"I have unleashed a mighty warrior onto this earth once more." The summoner looked upon his work, seemingly satisfied. "No one can stand up to his onslaught, not even Shinra could keep him chained. Now he is under my cont...!"

Suddenly, he stopped. He seemed to freeze there for a second, and noticed a long, silver blade protruding from his chest. "What...treachery is...this?"

Sepiroth stood up and told him in his cold, unfeeling voice, "I am no one's pet, least of all by a puny summoner such as yourself."

He jerked his masamune from the doomed man's body and let his body fall from the ground. He wiped his blade on the man's clothing and looked at Cloud. "Hello there. I told you I would never remain a memory."

BAM!

Cloud's fist came up to Sepiroth's jaw, and the platinum haired villain was thrown back. But he hardly went more than a few feet and black wings stopped his flight across the city. He gave Cloud that stoic look that emanated with furious hate yet unfeeling coldness and said, "Do you think that I am so weak to have that take me out with a single punch?"

No, I didn't, Cloud thought. But it would be nice for stuff to be easy for once.

Cloud brought his sword out of the sheath on his back, glaring at Sephiroth. Memories flashed through him and he did his best to hold them at

bay. In the middle of the fight was not the best time to start having flashbacks. That was actually quite deadly.

Cloud rushed at Sephiroth, battle history with him taking a temporary leave. The man disappeared and reappeared behind him, his sword against Cloud's

throat.

Wow, that was quick.

"Do you never grow bored of losing, Cloud?"

Cloud wanted to throw a cursed laced retort back to that, but decided against it, seeing the position he was in. Perhaps making the person that

could kill you in one second mad was not the brightest of ideas.Sephiroth must have gotten bored without an answer, because he lifted

the sword and shoved Cloud forward onto the ground. He barely had time to brace himself before he hit the ground. This was not going to stand, Cloud decided immediately, getting back to his feet.

"Really, Cloud, haven't you had enough yet?"

There was a flurry of movement and both fighters found themselves only inches away from each other. They had moved simultaneously. Both of their

strikes would have been considerably damaging, or in the case of the strike Cloud would have received, deadly, but their swords stopped each other, spraying

sparks everywhere. They glared at each other, dangerously close. Have his eyes always been that peculiar green? Cloud asked himself. He shook the thought off. His enemy looked amused at the progression of what was occurring.

"Cloud, we are done here for now. I have things to attend to. Come find me when you can focus long enough to fight."

There was a painful blow and then the enemy was gone, and soon consciousness afterwards.

XXXXXXX

Cloud woke up in one of the rooms of the headquarters. Tifa was standing nearby and giving him a hard look.

"And just what were you doing?" She asked.

**So please leave us a review. We hope you like!**


	2. Chapter 2 Further Complications

**Hi everyone! Apologize right now for the long wait, and it shouldn't go that long again. Thanks goes to those that are still reading and further thanks to those that review! - FangedWriter and The Wandering Gambler **

Cloud came out of unconsciousness slowly, like a fish coming out of water. His hearing came back before anything else, bringing him the sound of somebody pacing the room. He shifted, only realizing he must have when the sound of the pacing stopped.

"And just what were you doing?"

Tifa, his mind told him. She sounded mad.

Cloud looked around, ignoring her entirely. Her voice made his head pound horribly, focusing on it only made it worse. His vision was blurry around the edges and he couldn't identify where he was. And by all his training and common sense, he knew not knowing his own location was a pretty bad thing. He was reassured that Tifa was there, and Tifa wasn't going to be idling in a dangerous place, but he still wanted to know where he was.

He strained his eyes and looked around the room. He could make out shapes, but they were all fuzzy. One by one, with more concentration and strain, the shapes made themselves out. An old filing cabinet. A desk.

The delivery business, the thought, his thoughts as sluggish as his senses. My office.

"Cloud, answer me. I know you can hear me. What the heck did you think you were doing down there?" Tifa demanded.

The pounding in his head went up a notch, blinding him for a minute. Before this had happened, he would have sworn such a pounding wasn't possible, but lo and behold here was proof of it.

He need to figure out what happened, his mind was there enough for him to know that. Something had happened. Tifa wouldn't be yelling that loud if it hadn't. His focus wavered a bit as he tried to focus his mind on the task of remembering what had happened.

A flash of a silver haired specter.

His breath was racing faster than he had thought possible when he opened his eyes again. His breathing worried him, but the realization that he hadn't consciously closed his eyes was worse. He had sat upright without realizing it too. Cloud felt the sweat drenching him again, just like the dream.

"Cloud, what's wrong? What happened down there?"

He couldn't make himself answer Tifa. He heard her voice, but was unable to get himself to answer. He knew he ought to. Tifa had gone from thoroughly angry to completely scared.

_What is this feeling? _He wondered. _Why can't I get that image out of my head?_

Consciousness slipped from him again. Tifa, with a look of fright on her face, yelled out in the hallway for Barret.

XXXImalineXXX

When Cloud emerged from unconsciousness, he became aware of Tifa standing in front of him. The fright from earlier was completely gone from her face, replaced by a hard look. The look only got worse after a second and from past experience he knew that look. He had missed something she had asked.

"Well?!" Tifa's voice reverberated around the room. Cloud winced at it. "Are you just going to sit there, mouth agape, or answer me?!"

Cloud looked at her headlong.

"Not now, Tifa. If I needed a girlfriend, I would have already asked,'' he said with all of the 'Cloud Seriousness' he had, making her turn red in the face.

_There, that's better…_ With the cause of his current headache quiet, he had a chance to get his bearings.

The room around him was his own, sparsely decorated, save for his bed, desk, and chair. There were a collection of weapons lining the wall, including the morph sword, as he called it, in which he could combine all of his weapons to make another more powerful than any he carried.

He knew there was a piece of the puzzle missing.

He looked at Tifa and asked her, "How did you find me? I don't remember calling you guys…"

She looked at him as if he had just told a joke no one else got. The look didn't reassure him at all.

"Umm, Cloud, the homing beacon on your bike? We wouldn't have come for you if it hadn't shown up. When Barrent and I got there, you were leaned up against it. We thought you were…"

Ignoring the rush of emotions that came from her, he interrupted, "But…I wasn't anywhere near the Fenrir. I was below, in the city…"

"Well, that's where we found you. We took you to your office first, but you passed out right after you woke up there, so we brought you here. But, Cloud, that is where we found you." Gaining some of her old spunk back, she continued, "Maybe ti's that bump on your head that made you forget where you were!"

Cloud couldn't believe that he would forget something like where he was, especially since he had been with…wait…_Sephiroth was there…did he…? No, that's ridiculous. Why would he help me?_

"Besides…Cloud, are you even listening?!?!"

The shout of fury and angry concern ripped him away from his thoughts.

"Well…no, Tifa."

Her shouting ensued, more fervent than the last bout and resurrecting what had nearly been a gone headache. _I'm never going to hear the end of it_, he sighed mentally.

XXXimalineXXX

Sephiroth balanced upon the sea shell outside the entrance to the city inside, deep in thoughts. _What is the matter with me? Helping _him _of all people? _The action hadn't been understood and probably never would. He had just felt this overwhelming thought to at least get Cloud home. He had never felt that before, not since he found Mother.

_Maybe it's because I enjoying fighting with him. There are few that could cross swords with me to tell a tale, let alone any who would survive. Yes, that must be it._ The weak excuse echoed throughout his mind. _Well, I think I'll need that weapon back._

XXXimalineXXX

Cloud got up from the bed and wasted no time in moving over to grab his discarded shirt. There were things that needed done and they needed done soon. Tifa nearly jumped on him at the movement.

"What are you doing?" She demanded.

Cloud barely gave any thought to her as he picked her up and moved her out of his way.

"There's a problem that needs to be fixed. That's all you need to know."

He continued getting his things, throwing a few swords at a time on his back. Tifa watched him taking the swords with a look of fright on her face. It didn't look good. He went outside to the Fenrir and started placing the swords in their separate slots. She followed him, reluctant to let it go.

"Cloud, please tell me what's going on! The last time you kept me out, Sephiroth came back!" Tifa pleaded. He continued as if she hadn't spoken. He let out a grunt when she punched him in the gut. "Now," she said. "You can leave here in one piece, or in pieces."

_Damn_…_She's still strong._

He looked at her, fighting what should be done. He didn't want to tell her, but memories from the past came flooding to him. She had a right to know, he guessed. He sighed.

"Fine, come back in with me."

Back in his room, Cloud moved his bed out of the way and easily punched through the floor. Pulling away other loose boards, he pulled up a very long, wrapped package.

"That,'' he said, handing it to her, "is why I'm worried."


End file.
